bird cams: common tern

DIM

Close

common tern

Best Viewing Hours
5am - 9pm ET (until we add an infrared light source and then 24/7)

Learn More & Get Involved · Join Audubon
· Subscribe to Audubon Wingspan
· Learn about our Audubon Camp
· Adopt-A-Puffin
· Project Puffin Visitor Center
· Puffin Watching Tour
Known for its graceful flight and elegant plumage, the Common Tern has become a symbol of the conservation movement. It was widely sought for the 19th century millinery trade of feathering ladies hats. Hunting of terns peaked in the 1870s and 1880s, wiping out nearly all of the population on the Atlantic coast. This along with the slaughter of birds such as herons was the impetus for the formation of Audubon societies and other conservation efforts. Today numbers have rebounded and are doing well along the coast. The Common Tern is recognizable by the dark tip on its orange-red bill, as well as its black cap and orange red legs. The American population winters in South and Central America, coming to land each spring to breed in colonies on northern coastal islands, like a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=53534#_blank" target="_blank" style="font-weight:bold;" class="open-in-lightbox">Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in Maine. Seal Island is Maine’s largest Common Tern colony with more than 1,500 nesting pairs. The Seal Island Audubon Live cams are located 20 miles off of Rockland, Maine. Transporting the video image from the island to the Internet is a complex process that involves beaming the signal 26 miles from Seal Island to a radio tower above Rockland. The signal is then relayed an additional 2.5 miles to the top of the Tradewinds Motor Inn in Rockland, where a rooftop dish transfers the video signal to a cable that runs into Project Puffin Visitor Center, from there it is relayed to the Internet. The video stream is occasionally affected by factors such as changes in tide, reflection off the sea surface and dense fog. During these times the images may be lost. If this happens, stay tuned and the signal will be restored quickly. To learn more about Maine seabirds and how you can help them, visit projectpuffin.org.

  • topic: tern

  • location: seal island

SCHEDULE UPDATE

The Audubon Tern Cam will feature pre-recorded highlights until June, when the terns nest. Meanwhile, enjoy our live Osprey cam, and look for Puffins to go live in May.

More info Pop-out Player

bird cams: common tern

Known for its graceful flight and elegant plumage, the Common Tern has become a symbol of the conservation movement. It was widely sought for the 19th century millinery trade of feathering ladies hats. Hunting of terns peaked in the 1870s and 1880s, wiping out nearly all of the population on the Atlantic coast. This along with the slaughter of birds such as herons was the impetus for the formation of Audubon societies and other conservation efforts. Today numbers have rebounded and are doing well along the coast. The Common Tern is recognizable by the dark tip on its orange-red bill, as well as its black cap and orange red legs. The American population winters in South and Central America, coming to land each spring to breed in colonies on northern coastal islands, like Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in Maine. Seal Island is Maine’s largest Common Tern colony with more than 1,500 nesting pairs.

The Seal Island Audubon Live cams are located 20 miles off of Rockland, Maine. Transporting the video image from the island to the Internet is a complex process that involves beaming the signal 26 miles from Seal Island to a radio tower above Rockland. The signal is then relayed an additional 2.5 miles to the top of the Tradewinds Motor Inn in Rockland, where a rooftop dish transfers the video signal to a cable that runs into Project Puffin Visitor Center, from there it is relayed to the Internet. The video stream is occasionally affected by factors such as changes in tide, reflection off the sea surface and dense fog. During these times the images may be lost. If this happens, stay tuned and the signal will be restored quickly. To learn more about Maine seabirds and how you can help them, visit projectpuffin.org.

about

location: Seal Island, Maine

best viewing hours: 7:00am - 8:00pm

time zone: Eastern Time

get involved: Join Audubon
Subscribe to Audubon Wingspan
Learn about our Audubon Camp
Adopt-A-Puffin

did you know?

migration / Common Terns winter primarily in Argentina, Brazil, and other parts of South America, Central America, Africa, Asia, and Australia.

did you know?

nesting / Common Tern chicks fledge within 22-29 days but they do not start hunting for themselves as they receive food from parents after they fledge.

did you know?

behavior / Breeding colonies of Common Terns will fly together in 2 sorts of group displays: Upflights and Dreads. In upflights many or all of the birds take to the air and give alarm calls. Dreads are often caused by predators; the colony suddenly falls silent and they all fly rapidly away from the nesting area low over the water to wheel and turn in the sky.

did you know?

behavior / In early courtship mate selection occurs during aerial displays where the male Common Tern carries a fish and circles while being followed by females.

did you know?

behavior / Ground displays of Common Terns include a Greeting Ceremony, a Parade, and Scraping. Males also will offer fish to females.

did you know?

behavior / Female Common Terns generally attack other chicks that wander into their territory, but during the hatching period of their own nest, they will not attack orphaned or neighbor chicks.

did you know?

behavior / While male Common Terns are generally larger than females, observers determine the birds’ gender through behavior.

did you know?

conservation / The widespread killing of Common Terns, as well as herons and other water birds during the late 19th century, spurred the creation of Audubon and other conservation organizations.

did you know?

conservation / Common Terns are listed as threatened, or of special concern in many states.

did you know?

conservation / Common Tern populations were devastated by egg and plume hunters over a century ago; protective legislation and intensive management have since led to rebounded populations, though not to historic levels.

did you know?

conservation / Various conservation efforts have since benefited Common Terns, including better regulation of pollutants, management of landfills which feed competing gulls, protection of breeding sites against human disturbance and development, and removal of gulls from tern nesting areas.

did you know?

conservation / Project Puffin protects about 80% of Maine’s Common Terns by placing seabird stewards at important bird areas during the nesting season.

did you know?

trivia / The Common Tern is the most widespread American tern.

did you know?

trivia / Tern wings, and even whole terns, were a common sight on ladies' hats in the late 1800s; intensive hunting for this purpose contributed to the species' demise.

did you know?

trivia / Between the 1930s and 1980s many colony sites on the Atlantic Cost became occupied by Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls. Common Terns were displaced to less suitable sites, usually with higher levels of predation from mink, Black-crowned Night-herons, and Great Horned Owls.

did you know?

nesting / Common Tern eggs hatch within 1-2 days of each other with higher survival success to the earlier hatchlings.

did you know?

nesting / Common Terns typically have a clutch of 2-3 eggs, though larger clutches are known. The eggs have an olive-buff background color with numerous dark brown blotches. If the first clutch is lost, they will usually re-nest.

did you know?

nesting / Common Tern nests consist of a shallow scrape or depression in the ground, usually lined with grasses, seaweeds, gravel, shells, or cobble substrates; occasionally they build mounds of vegetation, especially in wet areas. Scattered vegetation offers chicks shelter and additional protection.

did you know?

migration / During migration, Common Terns have been known to ascend to heights of more than a mile.

did you know?

hunting / On Seal Island some of the Common Terns fish in the waters surrounding Vinalhaven to feed their young. The parents fly up to 12 miles out to sea, flying 24 miles round trip to provide each small fish to their young.

did you know?

hunting / While Common Terns often hunt alone or in small groups, flocks of hundreds may gather over a large school of fish.

did you know?

hunting / Common Terns plunge into water head first to capture prey in their beak. A Common Tern diving for fish can attract others from nearly a mile away.

did you know?

hunting / In breeding colonies, some Common Terns practice kleptoparasitism: stealing food from their fellow terns. Large chicks may take food from smaller chicks. Orphaned chicks are sometimes adopted by neighboring pairs.

did you know?

diet / Common Terns feed primarily on small fish; they also eat invertebrates such as shrimp and other crustaceans, and insects. In the Gulf of Maine, butterfish, herring, hake, and pollock are fish frequently caught by Common Terns.

did you know?

diet / Coastal Common Terns drink salt water. Chicks do not drink until after fledging.

did you know?

family life / Common Terns breed from northwestern Canada southward to Montana, and eastward to Newfoundland and New Jersey, southward along the Atlantic Coast to Louisiana.

did you know?

family life / Both male and female Common Terns incubate the eggs and care for their young. Incubation lasts 3 to 4 weeks.

did you know?

family life / Within a day of hatching, Common Tern chicks walk, with their eyes open, but stay in the nesting colony until they begin to fly, at nearly 4 weeks of age.

did you know?

family life / Common Tern chicks will often return to breed at their natal site when they are 3 years old.

did you know?

family life / The oldest recorded pair of Common Terns bred successfully at age 26.

did you know?

family life / While both male and female Common Terns will hunt for their chicks, females generally brood more, and males hunt more.

did you know?

nesting / Common Terns nest on islands, marshes, and sometimes lake and ocean beaches.

did you know?

trivia / Common Terns are among the most intensively researched birds, for studies including their behavior, dietary and breeding habits, ecology, anatomy, and toxicology.
1 / 12
MORE PHOTOS
1 / 1
SLIDESHOW:
MORE VIDEOS
1 / 1
VIDEO:

Best Viewing Hours
5am - 9pm ET (until we add an infrared light source and then 24/7)

Learn More & Get Involved · Join Audubon
· Subscribe to Audubon Wingspan
· Learn about our Audubon Camp
· Adopt-A-Puffin
· Project Puffin Visitor Center
· Puffin Watching Tour
Known for its graceful flight and elegant plumage, the Common Tern has become a symbol of the conservation movement. It was widely sought for the 19th century millinery trade of feathering ladies hats. Hunting of terns peaked in the 1870s and 1880s, wiping out nearly all of the population on the Atlantic coast. This along with the slaughter of birds such as herons was the impetus for the formation of Audubon societies and other conservation efforts. Today numbers have rebounded and are doing well along the coast. The Common Tern is recognizable by the dark tip on its orange-red bill, as well as its black cap and orange red legs. The American population winters in South and Central America, coming to land each spring to breed in colonies on northern coastal islands, like a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=53534#_blank" target="_blank" style="font-weight:bold;" class="open-in-lightbox">Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge in Maine. Seal Island is Maine’s largest Common Tern colony with more than 1,500 nesting pairs. The Seal Island Audubon Live cams are located 20 miles off of Rockland, Maine. Transporting the video image from the island to the Internet is a complex process that involves beaming the signal 26 miles from Seal Island to a radio tower above Rockland. The signal is then relayed an additional 2.5 miles to the top of the Tradewinds Motor Inn in Rockland, where a rooftop dish transfers the video signal to a cable that runs into Project Puffin Visitor Center, from there it is relayed to the Internet. The video stream is occasionally affected by factors such as changes in tide, reflection off the sea surface and dense fog. During these times the images may be lost. If this happens, stay tuned and the signal will be restored quickly. To learn more about Maine seabirds and how you can help them, visit projectpuffin.org.

explore news

comments powered by Disqus